CN1552017B - Material and method for three-dimensional modeling - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are high-performance thermoplastic materials used in building a three-dimensional model and its supports, by fused deposition modeling techniques. A modeling material used to build a model (26) is comprised of a thermoplastic resin having a heat deflection temperature of greater than 120 DEG C. An amorphous thermoplastic resin which self-laminates, bonds weakly to the modeling material, has a heat deflection temperature similar to the heat deflection temperature of the modeling material, and has a tensile strength of between 34 MPa [5000 psi] and 83 MPa [12,000 psi] comprises a support material used to build a support structure (28). In a preferred embodiment the thermoplastic resin comprising the support material is selected from the group consisting of a polyphenylene ether and polyolefin blend, a polyphenylsulfone and amorphous polyamide blend and a bolyphenysulfone, polysulfone and amorphous polyamide blend.

Description

Materials and methods for 3D modeling

technical field

The present invention relates to the production of three-dimensional objects using additive process modeling techniques. More particularly, the invention relates to depositing a first curable material in a predetermined pattern to form a three-dimensional object while depositing a second curable material to provide a support structure for the three-dimensional object being built.

Background technique

The additive method modeling machine makes a three-dimensional model according to the design data provided by the computer-aided design (CAD) system and accumulates the modeling medium. The 3D model is used to provide functions including aesthetic judgment, inspection of mathematical CAD models, forming hard tooling, study of interference and space allocation, and testing of functions. One technique is to pile up curable modeling materials in a predetermined pattern according to the design data provided by the CAD system, and accumulate multiple layers to form a model.

U.S. Patent No. 4,749,347 to Valavaara, U.S. Patent No. 5,121,329 to Crump, U.S. Patent No. 5,303,141 to Batchelder et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,340,433 to Crump, U.S. Patent No. 5,402,351 to Batchelder et al. , U.S. Patent No. 5,503,785 to Crump et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,764,521 to Batchelder et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,900,207 to Danforth et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,968,561 to Batchelder et al., and U.S. Patent No. 6,067,480 to Stuffle et al. Example of an apparatus and method for forming a three-dimensional model from a curable modeling material exiting an extrusion head. The molding material may be supplied to the extrusion head in solid form, for example in the form of a flexible filament wound on a supply shaft or in the form of a solid rod as disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,121,329. The modeling material may also be withdrawn from the reservoir in liquid form as described in US Patent No. 4,749,347. In any case, the extrusion head extrudes molten molding material from a nozzle onto the base. The extruded material is built up layer by layer over the area defined by the CAD model. The curable material used as the modeling material adheres to the previous layer with sufficient adhesive force when cured. Thermoplastic materials were found to be particularly suitable for these build-up molding techniques.

When creating three-dimensional objects using additive techniques, such as stacking multiple layers of curable materials, it is invariably necessary to use support layers or structures under protrusions or in cavities of building objects under construction that cannot be directly supported by the modeling material itself. For example, if the object is a model of the interior of an underground cavity, the prototype of which is built from the ground floor to the ceiling, the stalactite will require a temporary support until the ceiling is complete. A support layer or structure is also needed for other reasons, such as to move the model out of the base, to resist the tendency of the model to deform when it is partially completed, and to resist the forces imposed on the partially completed model by the building process.

Support structures can be built using the same build-up techniques and equipment used to build up molding materials. The apparatus, under suitable software control, produces additional geometries for the support structures that serve as suspended or free-space portions of the object being formed. The support material is either deposited from a separate dispensing head within the molding apparatus or from the same dispensing head that deposits the molding material. The support material is selected so that it can be bonded to the modeling material. Anchoring the model to such a support structure solves the problem of building the model, but creates the additional problem of how to remove the support structure from the finished model without damaging the model.

The problem of removing the support structure has been solved by creating a weak, fragile bond between the model and the support structure, such as described in US Patent No. 5,503,785. The 5,503,785 patent discloses a method of selecting a support or release material that forms a weak, brittle bond with the molding material. The support material builds up at the interface of the object and its support structure, or builds up in a layered fashion to form the support structure, in either case allowing the support structure to detach after the object has been formed.

三维造型机使用丙烯腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯(ABS)热塑组分或蜡材料作造型材料。用作支撑材料的材料是高冲击聚苯乙烯。现有技术的细丝供料的

三维造型机中，造型材料(或支撑材料)的细丝束由发动机驱动的一对供料轴推动前进进入挤出头携带的液化器。在液化器里，细丝被加热到一个可流动温度。供料轴将细丝束泵入液化器而使液化器加压。细丝束本身起活塞作用，形成一个泵。当供料轴继续推动细丝进入挤出头，进来的细丝束的力量将可流动材料从分配喷嘴挤出来，在分配喷嘴上堆积在可移到建筑平台上的底板上。in the prior art

Three-dimensional modeling machines use acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) thermoplastic components or wax materials as modeling materials. The material used as support material is high impact polystyrene. prior art filament feed

In the three-dimensional molding machine, the filament bundle of the modeling material (or supporting material) is pushed forward by a pair of feeding shafts driven by the engine and enters the liquefier carried by the extrusion head. In the liquefier, the filament is heated to a flowable temperature. The feed shaft pumps the filament tow into the liquefier to pressurize the liquefier. The filament bundle itself acts as a piston, forming a pump. As the feed shaft continues to push the filament into the extrusion head, the force of the incoming filament bundle extrudes the flowable material out of the dispensing nozzle where it deposits on a base plate that can be moved onto the building platform.

US Patent No. 6,067,480 discloses an apparatus and method for layering high-strength engineering polymers to fabricate durable three-dimensional objects. A raw rod of polymer is extruded from an extrusion cylinder with a piston placed inside the cylinder, providing a high pressure extrusion supply of low melt flow and long chain length polymers. No. 6,067,480 discloses that rods of polycarbonate, polyaryletherkotone, and polymethylmethacrylate were successfully extruded using extrusion cylinder equipment. The 6,067,480 patent does not disclose support materials.

Apparatus and methods for layering high strength engineering thermoplastics are disclosed in PCT Application No. US00/17363. The '363 application discloses building models from high temperature thermoplastics. Support material is not taught.

There remains a need to construct models with high performance engineering thermoplastics to improve model strength and quality. Materials compatible with the modeling method are required to provide suitable support structures for models built from these high-performance materials.

Contents of the invention

The present invention is a high-performance thermoplastic material for building models and their supports using fused deposition modeling techniques. An amorphous thermoplastic resin with a heat deflection temperature higher than 120° C. constitutes the molding material. In a preferred embodiment, the thermoplastic resin constituting the modeling material is selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate resin, polyphenylsulfone resin and polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin. The self-laminated amorphous thermoplastic resin and the modeling material are weakly bonded, have a heat deflection temperature similar to that of the modeling material, and have a tensile strength of 34MPa (5000psi) and 83MPa (12000psi) In between, the material includes support material. In a preferred embodiment, the thermoplastic resin constituting the support material is selected from a mixture of polyphenylene ether and polyolefin, a mixture of polyphenylsulfone and amorphous polyamide, a mixture of polyphenylsulfone and polysulfone, and amorphous polyamide. group.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a graphical illustration showing a model and its supporting structure formed by layered extrusion techniques.

Detailed ways

The invention is described with reference to a build-up molding system of the type shown in FIG. 1 . Figure 1 shows an extrusion apparatus 10 for constructing a mold 26 supported by a support structure 28 of the present invention. Extrusion apparatus 10 includes an extrusion head 12 , a material receiving base 14 and a material supply 18 . The extrusion head 12 moves in the X and Y directions relative to the base 14 which moves in the vertical Z direction. A material supply 18 supplies the extrusion head 12 with a stock of material. In the solution described, a solid stock of material is supplied to the extrusion head 12 where it is melted in a liquefier 22 carried by the extrusion head 12 . The liquefier 22 heats the raw material to a temperature slightly above its solidification point, reducing it to a molten state. Molten material is extruded through a nozzle 24 of a liquefier 22 onto the bottom 14 . The feedstock may be in the form of continuous filaments, rods, blocks, pellets, pellets, and the like.

Controlling the movement of the extrusion head builds up the material in various paths and layers onto the base 14 to build the three-dimensional model 26 and further builds the support structure 28 defined to substantially support the model 26 being built. Form 26 and its support structure 28 are built on base 14 in an environmentally controlled build chamber (not shown) that promotes heat curing. A first layer of build-up material adheres to the bottom 14 to form the foundation, and each subsequent layer of material is bonded to each other.

Modeling material A is dispensed to form the model 26 , and support material B is dispensed to form the support structure 28 corresponding to the dispense of the modeling material A. For convenience, extrusion apparatus 10 shows only one material supply 18 . It should be understood, however, that in the practice of the present invention, the molding material A and the support material B are supplied to the extrusion apparatus 10 from respective raw materials from respective material supplies. Extrusion apparatus 10 can accommodate the dispensing of two different materials: (1) two extrusion heads 12 are configured, one supplied with modeling material A and one supplied with support material B (such as disclosed in the '561 patent of Batchelder); (2 ) configure a single extrusion head supplied with molding material A and support material B, dispensing both materials with a single nozzle (such as shown in FIG. 6 of Crump's '329 patent); or (3) configure a single The extrusion head supplies two materials, each dispensed with its own nozzle (such as shown in Figure 6 of Crump's '785 patent)

In the described solution, the molding material A and the support material B emerge from the extrusion head in horizontal layers in a substantially continuous path and are supplied in solid form to the extrusion head. Those skilled in the art will understand that the invention can be advantageously practiced with various other types of molding machines, and that the material can also be supplied to the extrusion head in liquid form.

The present invention provides a high-performance engineering thermoplastic resin with a glass transition temperature higher than 120°C and no obvious shrinkage when changing from a liquid to a solid as the molding material A. Preferred thermoplastic resins are selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate resins, polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resins and polyphenylsulfone resins. The support material B of the present invention is a self-laminating thermoplastic resin similar in heat resistance and shrinkage to the modeling material A, and weakly laminated to the mold so that it can be detached at the material interface. Additionally, support material B is strong enough to support the model. The thermoplastic material of the present invention has higher impact strength, greater rigidity, higher heat deflection temperature and higher chemical stability than materials currently used for fusion deposition molding. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the build and support materials of the present invention may include fillers and other additives that may enhance other properties of the thermoplastic resin.

Rheology of molding and support materials

Build material A and support material B must meet a number of build criteria for the particular build system in which they are used, generally relating to thermal properties, strength, viscosity and adhesion.

Modeling material A and support material B must have a melt viscosity suitable for the molding process. Ideally, the material used in melt deposition modeling has a low melt viscosity. The melt viscosity must be low enough at the extrusion temperature that it generally extrudes in a continuous road or bead. Also, the melt viscosity at extrusion temperatures must be low enough that the packed strands or beads of material have little melt strength, causing them to spread out rather than roll up. Increasing the temperature at which the material is extruded decreases the melt viscosity. But extrusion temperatures that are too high can cause the heated material to decompose uselessly in the extruder. If disintegrated, in the absence of a positive cut-off mechanism, the material will drain uncontrollably from the liquefier into the build bag, a condition known as "slime" . Moreover, the low extrusion temperature reduces energy consumption, reduces heat generation and reduces the chance of degrading polymer materials.

In theory, the viscosity of the melt is related to the molecular weight of the material, and when it approaches the critical molecular weight, the properties disappear. The lower limit of melt viscosity is therefore defined as the critical molecular weight viscosity, but practically all commercial grade polymers exhibit good physical properties above the critical molecular weight.

造型机中制造模型使用的材料在挤出温度下必须具有高的熔体流动，以便于在相当低的压力约21MPa(3000psi)或以下以连续的珠挤出。抽丝型挤压机堆积的材料需要的高熔体流动大于约5gms/10min，在挤出温度和1.2kg的负荷下用ASTM D1238测定。最优选地，熔体流动在5-30g/10min之间。较低的熔体流动(高粘度)适合高压挤出，例如用美国专利6,067,480号公开的设备。Melt viscosity is measured by its inverse parameter, melt flow. with wire extruder

The material used to make the model in the molding machine must have high melt flow at the extrusion temperature in order to facilitate continuous bead extrusion at a relatively low pressure of about 21MPa (3000psi) or below. Drawn-type extruder-packed material requires a high melt flow of greater than about 5 gms/10 min, as determined by ASTM D1238 at extrusion temperature and a load of 1.2 kg. Most preferably, the melt flow is between 5-30 g/10 min. Lower melt flow (high viscosity) is suitable for high pressure extrusion, such as with the equipment disclosed in US Patent No. 6,067,480.

In order to properly support the model under construction, support material B must bond to itself (self-laminate). Support material B must form a weak, breakable bond with modeling material A (co-laminated) so that it can be separated from the finished model without damaging the model. When the support structure is built from the bottom, the support material B must additionally be bonded to the bottom.

In order to produce dimensionally accurate models, the molding and support materials must show little shrinkage when cooled under the conditions in which the bag is built. Any shrinkage of support material B must match build material A. Differential shrinkage of the material will cause stress and bond failure along the model/support structure junction. Amorphous polymers typically have a shrinkage of less than or equal to 0.01 cm/cm (0.010 inch/inch) when cured according to the ASTM spray molding test standard. The shrinkage characteristics of amorphous polymers are acceptable for build-up purposes, however, the shrinkage of crystalline polymers is too high for build-up. Fillers can be added to the material to reduce shrinkage. Crystalline additives may be added to the materials of the present invention as long as they are added in small enough amounts that the material continues to have the shrinkage characteristics of an amorphous polymer.

Special molding material A can be selected according to the special application of the finished model. The support material B must have sufficient mechanical strength in solid form to support the model during its manufacture. Support material B must resist the forces of modeling material A, otherwise the model will have unwanted curling and deformation.

Modeling material A and support material B, when supplied in filament or rod form, must be strong enough to be transported without breaking. When supplied in filament form, the material must also have the strength and flexibility to form filaments, wind and unwind, and supply through extrusion equipment without breakage. Similarly, materials supplied in filament form must be rigid enough not to be deformed by compressive forces when supplied through extrusion equipment.

As for thermal properties, build material A and support material B should have similar thermal deflection properties so that both materials can be successfully extruded into the same build chamber. As described in US Patent No. 5,866,058, the mold is built in a chamber heated to a temperature above the solidification temperature of a thermoplastic or other heat-curable modeling material, followed by gradual cooling to relieve the stress in the material. Stress is relieved from the model being built so that the finished model is stress-free and virtually deformation-free. As further recited in the '058 patent, the build material should have a glass transition temperature ( _Tg ) above the build chamber temperature so that the pattern is not too soft to sag. The preferred temperature for the build cavity is therefore in the range between the solidification temperature of the molding material A and its creep relaxation temperature (the creep relaxation temperature is defined as the point at which the stress relaxation modulus decreases by a factor of 10 from its lower temperature limit). Likewise, the glass transition temperature of support material B should be higher than the temperature of the build chamber so that the support structure does not deform and maintain the structural fidelity of the model it supports. After testing, it is found that the glass transition temperature (or heat deflection temperature) of the support material B should be within about 20° C., preferably within 15° C., of the glass transition temperature (or heat deflection temperature) of the molding material A. Adding fillers to materials can act to increase the glass transition temperature of the material. In practice, glass transition temperature is expressed as heat deflection temperature. The heat deflection temperature of representative materials disclosed herein is determined by the DMA softening point of the material.

Composition of molding and support materials

The materials of the present invention were tested using a filament-fed layered build-up molding machine of the type disclosed in PCT Application No. US01/41354 and PCT Application No. US00/17363. The following examples, given of build material A and support material B, demonstrate that the rheological criteria discussed above are met.

Example 1

(可从General ElectricPlastics获得)。这种树脂具有156℃的热挠曲温度，在1.2kg的负荷下300℃时熔体流动在20-30gms/10min范围内。聚碳酸酯树脂成功地从温度约320℃的液化器中挤出到温度约135℃的建造膛内。 Molding material : The molding material A is polycarbonate resin. A specific exemplary polycarbonate resin is

(Available from General Electric Plastics). This resin has a heat deflection temperature of 156°C and a melt flow at 300°C under a load of 1.2kg in the range of 20-30 gms/10min. Polycarbonate resin was successfully extruded from a liquefier at about 320°C into a build chamber at about 135°C.

Support material : Support material B is a resin comprising a mixture of polyphenylene ether and polyolefin, such as high impact polystyrene. The desired weight percent range is about 50-90% polyphenylene ether and about 10-50% polyolefin. A specific resin example is 75wt% polyphenylene ether and 25 wt% of A blend of high impact polystyrenes (each available from General Electric Plastics). This resin has a heat deflection temperature of 178°C and a melt flow similar to molding materials. Extruded from a liquefier at a temperature of around 360°C, the material successfully formed the support structure of the model built using polycarbonate resin.

Example 2

(可从General Electric Plastics获得)。这种树脂具有143℃的热挠曲温度，在1.2kg的负荷下280℃时熔体流动在10-20gms/10min范围内。聚碳酸酯/丙烯腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯树脂成功地从温度约320℃的液化器中挤出到温度约110℃的建造膛内。 Molding material : The molding material A is polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin. To provide the material with the enhanced strength and toughness of polycarbonate, the resin should contain at least about 50% by weight polycarbonate. A particularly preferred polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin is

(available from General Electric Plastics). This resin has a heat deflection temperature of 143°C and a melt flow at 280°C under a load of 1.2kg in the range of 10-20 gms/10min. The polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin was successfully extruded from a liquefier at about 320°C into a build chamber at about 110°C.

Support material : Support material B is a resin comprising a mixture of polyphenylene ether and polyolefin, such as high impact polystyrene. The desired weight percent range is about 40-80% polyphenylene ether and about 20-60% polyolefin. A specific resin example is (available from General Electric Plastics) polyphenylene ether/polystyrene blend. This resin has a heat deflection temperature of 156°C and a melt flow similar to molding materials. Extruded from a liquefier at a temperature of around 340°C, the material was successfully formed into the support structure of a model built using polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin.

Example 3

(可从BP Amoco获得)。这种聚苯砜树脂具有236℃的热挠曲温度，在1.2kg的负荷下400℃时熔体流动在20-30gms/10min范围内。聚苯砜树脂成功地从温度约400℃的液化器中挤出到温度约200℃的建造膛内。 Modeling material : Modeling material A is polyphenylsulfone resin. An example of a specific polyphenylsulfone resin is

(available from BP Amoco). This polyphenylsulfone resin has a heat deflection temperature of 236°C and a melt flow at 400°C under a load of 1.2kg in the range of 20-30 gms/10min. Polyphenylsulfone resin was successfully extruded from a liquefier at about 400°C into a build chamber at about 200°C.

聚苯砜(可从BP Amoco获得)、25wt％的

聚砜(可从BP Amoco获得)和25wt％的EMS TR70无定形聚酰胺(可从瑞士的EMS-Chemie AG获得)的混合物。这种树脂具有224℃的热挠曲温度和类似于造型材料的熔体流动。这种材料从温度约350℃的液化器中挤出，成功地形成使用聚苯砜树脂建造的模型的支撑结构。使用聚合物化学中的常规技术复合该组分材料到支撑材料B。 Support material : Support material B is a resin comprising a mixture of polyphenylsulfone and amorphous polyamide. The material may further comprise polysulfone. The desired weight percent range is a mixture of about 60-90 wt % polyphenylsulfone and about 10-40 wt % amorphous polyamide, or about 60-90 wt % polyphenylsulfone, about 1-40 wt % polysulfone and about 10 wt % - 40% by weight of a mixture of amorphous polyamides. A specific exemplary resin is 50wt%

Polyphenylsulfone (available from BP Amoco), 25 wt% of

A mixture of polysulfone (available from BP Amoco) and 25% by weight of EMS TR70 amorphous polyamide (available from EMS-Chemie AG, Switzerland). This resin has a heat deflection temperature of 224°C and a melt flow similar to molding materials. Extruded from a liquefier at a temperature of about 350°C, the material successfully formed the support structure of a model built using polyphenylsulfone resin. The component materials were compounded to support material B using conventional techniques in polymer chemistry.

Each of the materials given in the examples above has a tensile strength of 34 MPa (5000 psi) to 83 MPa (12000 psi), shrinkage typical of amorphous polymers (below 0.01 cm/cm (0.010 inch/inch)). Each of the materials used in the construction models of the above examples has higher impact strength, greater toughness, higher heat deflection temperature, and better chemical stability than materials currently used for fused deposition modeling. The toughness, impact strength, heat resistance and chemical stability of the material from which the Example 3 was built were found to exceed any rapid prototyping method of the prior art.

As mentioned above, the modeling material A and the support material B may contain inert and/or active filler materials. Depending on the intended use of the resulting model, fillers can provide enhanced material properties. For example fillers can provide RF protection, conduction, or radio-opaque properties (useful for some medical applications). Fillers can selectively degrade material properties, but this may be acceptable for some applications. For example, adding inexpensive fillers to the modeling material A or the support material B can reduce the cost of these materials. Fillers can also change the thermal properties of the material, for example, fillers can increase the heat resistance of the material, and fillers can reduce the shrinkage of the material during heat curing. Typical fillers include glass fibers, carbon fibers, carbon black, glass microspheres, calcium carbonate, mica, talc, silica, alumina, silicon carbide, wollastonite, graphite, metals and salts. The upper limit for the amount of filler material to be added to build material A and support material B without unacceptably reducing the quality of the model is about 20 wt%.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a myriad of other additives may also be used in the styling and support materials of the present invention to tailor the properties desired for a particular application. For example, adding plasticizers will reduce the heat resistance and melt flow of the material. Adding dyes and pigments can change the color of a material. The addition of antioxidants slows down the thermal degradation of the material in the extruder. Also small amounts of other polymers may be added to the material of the invention. The total amount of fillers and other additives can be up to about 30% by weight while maintaining the basic rheology of the styling and support materials of the present invention.

The molding and support materials A and B can be cast into rods, pellets or other shapes for use as molding raw materials, or can be used as liquid raw materials without pre-curing. Alternatively, the mixture can be solidified and ground into granules. The granular raw material composition can be processed through common extrusion equipment to form continuous flexible filaments. Desirably, these filaments are wound on bobbins in continuous lengths and dried. The filaments are generally small in diameter, about 0.178 cm (0.070 inch), and can be as small as 0.003 cm (0.001 inch) in diameter. The molding material A and support material B of the present invention were successfully formed into molding filaments for use in a filament feed stacking molding machine.

It should be noted that the molding material A and supporting material B of the present invention are sensitive to moisture. It has been shown that exposure of these materials to moisture will significantly degrade the quality of the model, so it is important to maintain dry conditions. In order to construct accurate and robust patterns from the material of the present invention using the fused deposition technique, the material must be dry. PCT Application No. US01/41354 and PCT Application No. US00/17363, which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose particularly suitable apparatus for building three-dimensional objects using the high temperature, moisture sensitive materials of the present invention. The '363 application discloses a molding machine with a high temperature build chamber, and the '354 application discloses a moisture-resistant filament box and filament channel for supplying moisture sensitive molding filaments in a filament feed stack molding machine.

For the molding material A and support material B of the present invention, acceptable moisture content (eg, a level at which the quality of the model is not impaired) is a level below 700 ppm water content (determined using the Karl Fischer method). The '354 application discloses techniques for drying the filament as it is supplied in a filament cassette. One method of drying the material is to place the box containing the material in a vacuum oven at a suitable temperature (typically 175-220°F) until the desired dryness is achieved, at which point the box is sealed to keep moisture out. The boxes are then vacuum sealed in moisture-impermeable bags until loaded into the machine. The desired drying time is 4-8 hours to achieve a water content below 300 ppm. Another method is to place the bag of desiccant in the box to dry the material without using the oven. It has been demonstrated that placing bags containing Tri-Sorb-Molecular Sieve and Calcium Oxide (CaO) desiccant in a box, sealing the box in a moisture-impermeable bag, dries the material to a moisture content below 700ppm, and dries the material to preferably Range 100-400ppm. Suitable Tri-Sorb-molecular sieve desiccants include the following: NaA zeolite, KA zeolite, CaA zeolite, NaX zeolite and magnesium aluminosilicate.

Models made of the material of the present invention are more useful than models made of materials used in the prior art. For example, models made of the material of the present invention can be used as functional parts of power tools and household appliances, where strength and toughness are important; functional parts for automotive applications, where strength, toughness, high heat resistance and chemical stability It is very important; functional parts of medical and dental equipment, which must maintain critical properties after repeated steam sterilization; some functional parts of applications requiring low flammability and smoke generation.

It should be noted that although the materials of the present invention are referred to herein as "model" or "support" materials, these materials can be transformed into one another, with so-called "support" materials used to form models and so-called "model" materials used to form the model's supporting structure. The properties of materials described herein as build materials are superior to support materials for most applications. For example, models built with materials described here as modeling materials are stronger and stronger than models built with materials described here as support materials. Materials herein are classified, for convenience of designation, as either "model" or "support" materials, depending on their intended typical use.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (14)

1. method of making three-dimensional body, under first extrusion temperature, distribute first kind of heat-setting material of fusion to limit described three-dimensional body with predetermined pattern, cooperation, is characterized in that may further comprise the steps to be defined for the supporting construction of described three-dimensional body with second kind of heat-setting material distributing fusion under second extrusion temperature:

Provide comprise first kind of thermoplastic resin and heat deflection temperature greater than 120 ℃ Modeling Material as first kind of heat-setting material;

Provide be selected from polyphenylene ether and polyolefinic potpourri a kind of comprising, the potpourri of PPSU and amorphous polyamides, the propping material of second kind of thermoplastic resin in the group that the potpourri of PPSU and polysulfones and amorphous polyamides is formed is as second kind of heat-setting material, described propping material is from laminated, form weak easily separate bonding with Modeling Material, and have the heat deflection temperature in 20 ℃ of the heat deflection temperature of Modeling Material, describedly bondingly make it possible to propping material is separated from described three-dimensional body and do not damage described three-dimensional body.

2. according to the method for claim 1, it is characterized in that propping material comprises second kind of thermoplastic resin of 70wt% at least.

3. according to the method for claim 1 or 2, it is characterized in that first kind of thermoplastic resin forming Modeling Material is selected from the group of polycarbonate resin, PPSU resin, PC resin composition.

4. according to the method for claim 3, it is characterized in that Modeling Material comprises the filling material of 20wt% at the most.

5. according to the method for claim 1, it is characterized in that propping material comprises first kind of thermoplastic resin of 70wt% at least.

6. according to the method for claim 1, it is characterized in that second kind of thermoplastic resin is polyphenylene ether and polyolefinic potpourri, first kind of thermoplastic resin is selected from the group of polycarbonate resin and PC resin composition.

7. according to the method for claim 6, it is characterized in that second kind of thermoplastic resin is the potpourri of polyphenylene ether and HTPS.

8. according to the method for claim 6, it is characterized in that propping material comprises the polyphenylene ether of 50-90wt% and the polyolefin of 10-50wt%, Modeling Material comprises the polycarbonate resin of 70wt% at least.

9. according to the method for claim 6, it is characterized in that propping material comprises the polyphenylene ether of 40-80wt% and the polyolefin of 20-60wt%, first kind of thermoplastic resin is the PC resin.

10. according to the method for claim 1, it is characterized in that, second kind of thermoplastic resin is selected from the group that the potpourri of potpourri, PPSU and the polysulfones of PPSU and amorphous polyamides and amorphous polyamides forms, and first kind of thermoplastic resin is the PPSU resin.

11. method according to claim 10, it is characterized in that, second kind of thermoplastic resin is the potpourri of PPSU, polysulfones and amorphous polyamides, comprise the PPSU of 60-90wt%, the polysulfones of 1-40wt% and the amorphous polyamides of 10-40wt%, wherein the total content of said components is 100wt%.

12. the method according to claim 10 is characterized in that, second kind of thermoplastic resin is the potpourri of PPSU and amorphous polyamides, comprises the PPSU of 60-90wt% and the amorphous polyamides of 10-40wt%.

13. method according to claim 1, it is characterized in that, Modeling Material in the melt flows under the load of first extrusion temperature and 1.2kg in the 5-30gms/10min scope, propping material in the melt flows under the load of second extrusion temperature and 1.2kg in the 5-30gms/10min scope.

14. the method according to claim 1 is characterized in that, the tensile strength of propping material is between 34-83MPa.

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